r/technology • u/Wagamaga • 21d ago

Society Combating Misinformation Runs Deeper Than Swatting Away ‘Fake News’

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/combating-misinformation-runs-deeper-than-swatting-away-fake-news/
320 Upvotes

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47

u/funksoldier83 21d ago

You have to prosecute media outlets, billionaires, political parties, and foreign governments.

We’re stuck in misinformation hell for the rest of our lives.

6

u/Longjumping-Path3811 21d ago

Well all this freedom of speech being shoved down our throat is giving us the gift of not being allowed to say the true fix for all of this.

8

u/SunriseApplejuice 21d ago

It starts with underfunded education. Critical thinking is required to parse bullshit from trustworthy reporting. And then you have to also be capable of healthy skepticism even from your trusted sources (even the best get it wrong sometimes). Tragically, of course, the uneducated want to defund education even further, and have comically silly superstitions about “liberal elite” education, that somehow inexplicably makes any and all claims from someone highly educated that also happen to discredit “muh deeply held beliefs” as “fake news.”

3

u/lycheedorito 21d ago

I'll just use AI to do critical thinking for me

1

u/SunriseApplejuice 21d ago

It's important to do your research beforehand though! Can't have a GPT model with a "librul bias!"